Gates of Vienna News Feed 1/31/2023

Croatian President Zoran Milanovic said that he opposes sending Western tanks to Ukraine, because it will tend to prolong the war. Meanwhile, the Swiss government is considering abandoning its strict policy of neutrality so that it can send military assistance to Ukraine.

In other news, more than 120,000 immigrants passed through Serbia in 2022. There’s no word on how many of those migrants were heading for Germany.

To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.

Thanks to Daniel Greenfield, Dean, DV, LL, LP, Reader from Chicago, SS, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.

Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. I check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.

Financial Crisis
» Polish Economic Growth Surpassed Expectations in 2022
» Republican Senators Push Back Against Biden’s Debt Ceiling Increase: ‘Our Nation’s Fiscal Policy is a Disaster’
» SEC Settles LBRY Case in Landmark Decision for Cryptocurrencies
 
USA
» 11 US Cities — All Governed by Democratic Mayors — Listed Among 50 Most Dangerous in World
» Alec Baldwin Formally Charged With Involuntary Manslaughter in ‘Rust’ Shooting
» Atlanta to Move Forward With Police, Firefighter Training Facility Despite ‘Cop City’ Protests
» Biden Approval Ratings Remain Well Underwater, Far Below Most Recent Presidents
» California School District to Raise Black Lives Matter Flag for Black History Month
» Charging Document Dooms Alec Baldwin, Refutes His Media Claims: “Displayed Very Inconsistent Accounts, Extremely Reckless Acts or Reckless Failures”
» Chicago Crime Rises 61% in 2023, Violent Offenses Spike While Governor Insists Crime “Coming Down”
» Comedian Rickey Smiley’s Son Brandon Dies Suddenly at 32
» DeSantis Responds to Trump Criticism, Says ‘Verdict Has Been Rendered by’ Florida Voters
» DeSantis Announces Crackdown on ‘Woke’ College Funding and ‘Deadweight’ Professors
» Downtown San Diego Violence Makes Residents Uneasy About Their Surroundings
» FBI Searched Biden’s Private Office Just Before Midterms, Kept it Quiet
» FDA Sued for Withholding Safety Data on COVID Shots
» Firearms Channels Embrace Rumble as YouTube Starts Censoring Videos Showing Suppressors Being Attached to Guns
» House Ignores White House Objections, Votes to End COVID Health Emergency
» Illinois Loses Appeal Over Gun Control Law, Leaving Restraining Order in Effect
» Kari Lake May Face Felony Charges After Criminal Referral From Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes
» Kids Dropped Off Near Scene of Lakeland Mass Shooting Moments Before it Happened, Parents Say
» Matt Gaetz Confirms AOC and ‘Populists on the Left’ Backed His New House Rules
» Military Veterans Sue Biden Administration Over ATF Regulation of Stabilizing Braces
» MTG Calls for Investigation Into Civil Rights Abuses Experienced by Jan 6 Defendants
» Pfizer Rakes in Biggest Profits in Company’s History Thanks to Billions From COVID Vaccine Sales
» Record 285,000 Illinois Residents Saw Power Shut-Offs Due to Non-Payment in 2022
» UCSF Chair of Medicine Announces Plan for Large Gatherings: ‘Wear a Mask … Likely Forever’
» Washington DC Householder Charged With Shooting Boy, 13
» Whoopi Goldberg is an Idiot
» Wisconsin Activists Sue to Keep Bail Crackdown, Welfare Work Requirements Off Primary Ballot
» ‘Woke’ Professor: U.S Taxpayers Owe $14 Trillion in Reparations
 
Canada
» BC Decriminalizes Hard Drugs Amid Fentanyl Crisis
» Calgary Pandemic Quarantine Facility Cost $6 Million to House 15 People
» Energy Companies Top Alberta Employer List Amid “Strong Economic Growth”
» Exclusive: Feds Knew Fertilizer Targets Would Harm Canadian Farm Crop Production
» Federal Theatre Backs Out of Performance for Exclusively Black Audience
» Over Three Million Canadians on Healthcare Waiting List
» Top Canadian Universities Conducted Research With Chinese Military Scientists
 
Europe and the EU
» Amid Plague of Gang Shootings and Bombings, Desire to Own Firearm for Self-Defence is Rising in Sweden
» European ‘Christian State’ Faces Criticism for Banning Woke Lessons, Immigration Laws: ‘Will of the People’
» Finland Could Join NATO But Sweden Can’t, Claims Erdogan
» French Demonstrators Pour Into the Streets in Latest Clash With Government Over Raise in Retirement Age
» German Voters Alarmed by Tank Deliveries to Warring Nation
» Greenpeace Protesters Board Shell Platform Bound for Shetland
» Hungary Says Sweden Should ‘Act Differently’ If it Wants to Join NATO
» Italy: Far-Left Anarchists Attack Police in Milan and Rome in Revenge for Hunger Striking Radical
» Most Poles Would Not Want to See Donald Tusk as the Prime Minister Again
» Orban: ‘The Current Political System in Europe Will Collapse’
» Poles Are Becoming Increasingly Susceptible to Russian Propaganda
» Shock Video: Three Wounded in Another Stabbing Rampage at Brussels Train Station
» Spanish Court Determines Church Murder Attack Was Terrorism
» Sweden PM Says ‘Foreign Actors’ Exploiting Protests
» Switzerland Weighs Break With Centuries-Old Policy of Neutrality
» Turkey is an Ally for Energy, Immigration, and Supports a Peace Deal in Ukraine, Hungarian Government Says Following Delegation Visit
» UK Government Used an Army Unit to Spy on Citizens So it Knew “How Scared People Were” During COVID
» UK Government Pressured News Outlets That Published Articles That Could “Affect Compliance” With COVID Measures
» UK: Brexiteers Have Every Right to Feel Betrayed by Conservatives Three Years on: Farage
» Ukraine Plans to Progress to Full EU Membership Within Two Years
» War in Ukraine to Cost German Economy €175 Billion This Year
» WSJ: Poland Has Covert Plant Repairing Ukrainian Weaponry
 
Israel and the Palestinians
» Who Was Really Behind the Jerusalem Terror Attack
 
Middle East
» Iranian Couple Sentenced to 21 Years for Dancing in Support of Protests
 
Russia
» Furious Kyiv Condemns President of NATO-Member Croatia for Declaring Crimea Will Never be Part of Ukraine and That Aiding Zelensky is ‘Mad’
» Russia-Ukraine War: Western Nations Sending Tanks ‘Prolongs the War’, Croatia’s President Says
» Russia Presses Ahead With Donetsk Campaign; Ukraine Wants Fighter Jets
» Ukraine War: Moscow Creeps Towards Bakhmut, Russian ‘Propaganda Institutions’, Nuclear Treaty Woes
 
Australia — Pacific
» Australian State of New South Wales to Get Digital ID Within Weeks
» Dan Andrews is Called Out for Accepting Prime Australian Open Seats From Emirates: ‘Even for Him This Was World-Record Hypocrisy’
» Exclusive: Horror in Alice Springs as a Teen Boy is Attacked With an Axe in Broad Daylight as Lawless Town is Rocked by a New Wave of Violence: ‘This Town Has Become a Nightmare’
» Nurse Who Filmed Troubling Scenes of Alice Springs Hotel Under Siege Reveals Her Disturbing Theory About Why Kids Are on the Streets — and Recounts the Most Terrifying Night of Her Life
» Tragic New Details Emerge About How Hero Husband Saved His Wife From an Eastern Brown Snake While They Were Watching TV — Before it Bit and Killed Him
» Video: Bill Gates Again Acts Weird When Asked Directly About Relationship With Jeffrey Epstein
» Wild Brawl Breaks Out in a Shopping Centre Food Court Leaving a Woman, 52, With a Bleeding Lip as the Cause of the Chaos is Revealed
 
Immigration
» Biden Avoids Mentioning NYC Migrant Protest During City Visit, Touts Big Spending at Rail Yard
» EU Ministers Discuss How to Better Tackle Migration, Vow to Speed Up Deportations
» Greg Abbott Announces Texas’ First Border Czar Amid Surge of Illegal Migrant Crossings
» Migrants Remain Camped in NYC Street After Nearly 48 Hours to Protest Eviction From Free Stay at Luxury Hotel
» NYC Hotel Worker Calls Out City as Migrants ‘Destroy’ Rooms, ‘Disrespect’ Employees: ‘No Accountability’
» Over 120,000 Migrants Pass Through Serbia in 2022
» Shock: 12-Year-Old Afghan Suspected of Raping Severely Disabled Girl at Care Home in France
» ‘This is Just the Beginning’ — Austria’s Anti-Immigration FPÖ Scores Shock Election Result
» UK: Failed Asylum Seeker Murdered Pensioner Who Took Him in
 
Culture Wars
» Canadian Parents Protest After Trans-Identified Male Allegedly Exposed Genitals to Young Girls in Pool Change Room
» Christian ‘Prayer Warriors’ Raise Alarm Over Boston’s SatanCon 2023: ‘Using the Supernatural’
» Corporate Wokeness: Big Tech, Major Banks Rated ‘High Risk’ of Canceling People, Orgs for Ideological Reasons
» Cosmetics Brand Accused of “Erasing Women” With Bearded Lipstick Ads
» Florida Demands American Academy of Pediatrics Give Evidence for Their Support of Child Sex Changes
» Jordan Peterson Talks Woke Schools, Assisted Suicide at Ottawa Event
» Killer Transwoman Who Identifies as Baby Supplied With Pacifier by Scottish Prison
» Screaming Trans Activist Takes Bow After Trying to Shut Down Detransitioned Woman Chloe Cole
» Trans Criminals Who Raped Women Are Women, Says Scottish Leader
» Virginia Bill Would Ban Transgender Athletes From Women’s Sports
» ‘Woke’ Left Implodes as CNN Signs Bill Maher: ‘That Smug Face’
 

Polish Economic Growth Surpassed Expectations in 2022

The Polish economy performed better than expected in 2022, growing steadily by 4.9 percent, Statistics Poland (GUS) revealed on Monday.

The post-Covid economic boom experienced in 2021, where GDP rose by 6.8 percent, was hampered somewhat last year by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, although growth still surpassed economists’ estimate of 4.5 percent. Forecasts at the beginning of the year were as low as 3.5 percent, proving the Polish economy to be resilient.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Republican Senators Push Back Against Biden’s Debt Ceiling Increase: ‘Our Nation’s Fiscal Policy is a Disaster’

Several Republican senators have warned Democrat President Joe Biden that they will not vote to raise America’s debt ceiling.

Two dozen GOP senators have signed a letter to Biden demanding action is taken to address the nation’s spending problem.

The 24 Republicans conveyed their “outright opposition to a debt-ceiling hike without real structural spending reform that reduces deficit spending and brings fiscal sanity back to Washington.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

SEC Settles LBRY Case in Landmark Decision for Cryptocurrencies

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) admitted that the sale of LBRY Credits (LBC) in the secondary market does not qualify as a security.

In November, the SEC was awarded a summary judgement where all sales of LBC tokens over a six-year period were considered investment contracts and therefore qualified as securities. LBRY appealed the decision and, in an amicus brief, attorney John Deaton settled a major debate.

Deaton asked the court to clarify if LBC token sales in the secondary market are securities, which fall under the SEC’s purview. The lawyer cited a paper by another attorney, Lewis Cohen, that examined all security lawsuits since SEC vs. WJ Howey Co. Cohen found that no court in the US had ruled an underlying asset as security.

Convinced by Deaton’s argument, the judge said he will “make it clear that my order does not apply to secondary market sales.”

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

11 US Cities — All Governed by Democratic Mayors — Listed Among 50 Most Dangerous in World

Eleven U.S. cities rank among the 50 most dangerous in the world, according to a recent report published by Numbeo, a global quality of life database. All 11 are governed by Democratic mayors.

Three U.S. cities — Baltimore, Memphis and Detroit — are ranked among the 20 most dangerous cities on the planet.

The three cities have more in common than just violent crime. All three are run by Democrats.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Alec Baldwin Formally Charged With Involuntary Manslaughter in ‘Rust’ Shooting

Actor Alec Baldwin and Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer in “Rust,” were formally charged with involuntary manslaughter after the shooting that killed Halyna Hutchins. NBC News’ Miguel Almaguer has the latest updates on the case.

           — Hat tip: LP [Return to headlines]
 

Atlanta to Move Forward With Police, Firefighter Training Facility Despite ‘Cop City’ Protests

Atlanta city officials said Tuesday they are moving ahead with plans to construct a major police and firefighter training center despite protests that erupted after the shooting death of an environmental activist.

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens made the announcement during a press conference, saying the city had signed a memorandum of understanding with DeKalb County to build the $90 million Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Biden Approval Ratings Remain Well Underwater, Far Below Most Recent Presidents

President Biden was on the road for a second straight day Tuesday highlighting the benefits of the bipartisan infrastructure law, one of the top domestic achievements of his tenure so far in the White House.

“This law is the most significant investment in rail… since we created Amtrak,” the president touted at the West Side Rail Yard in New York City Tuesday, as he promoted a project — paid through the infrastructure measure — that’s expected to improve reliability for hundreds of thousands of train passengers per day in the northeast.

“When the project is complete, trains will be in and out of New York more quickly, more safely, with fewer interruptions,” Biden emphasized.

But as Biden moves closer towards the likely launch of his 2024 presidential election campaign, his standing in the most important metric of his presidency remains well in negative territory.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

California School District to Raise Black Lives Matter Flag for Black History Month

The San Diego Unified School District is holding a ceremony to raise the Black Lives Matter flag in honor of Black History Month.

In a tweet, the district said that the ceremony will take place on Feb. 1 and is open to all students, community members, and staff.

“In honor of #BlackHistoryMonth, San Diego Unified students from across the district will raise the Black Lives Matter flag to signify our shared commitment to creating a just, equitable, and empathetic world,” the tweet states.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Charging Document Dooms Alec Baldwin, Refutes His Media Claims: “Displayed Very Inconsistent Accounts, Extremely Reckless Acts or Reckless Failures”

Alec Baldwin has officially been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of “Rust,” officials announced today.

But it gets worse for Alec. The statement of probable cause supporting criminal charges against Baldwin is damning as it claimed Baldwin had not been properly trained with firearms ahead of the movie and that he pulled the trigger of the gun despite telling the media he did not.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Chicago Crime Rises 61% in 2023, Violent Offenses Spike While Governor Insists Crime “Coming Down”

Authored by Naveen Anthrapully via The Epoch Times

The crime rate in Chicago has spiked by 61 percent in the first three weeks of 2023, with almost all crime segments registering an increase, with data coming at a time when the state’s governor insists that crime in the city is decreasing.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Comedian Rickey Smiley’s Son Brandon Dies Suddenly at 32

Brandon Smiley, the oldest son of comedian Rickey Smiley, has tragically died suddenly at just 32 years old.

Rickey Smiley announced the death of his son Brandon in a social media post.

According to the post, Brandon Smiley passed away on Sunday morning.

No cause of death or any other details were given.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

DeSantis Responds to Trump Criticism, Says ‘Verdict Has Been Rendered by’ Florida Voters

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis responded Tuesday to an ongoing series of criticisms leveled at him by former President Donald Trump.

Trump took his latest swing at DeSantis on Saturday, claiming that the governor — whom he has previously nicknamed “Ron DeSanctimonious” — was misguided in COVID-19 pandemic policies in Florida.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

DeSantis Announces Crackdown on ‘Woke’ College Funding and ‘Deadweight’ Professors

Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has announced that his administration is cracking down on the funding of “woke” college “diversity” programs and “deadweight” professors.

DeSantis revealed the state of Florida is scrapping “diversity, equity, and inclusion” and Critical Race Theory (CRT) funding from public universities.

He also vowed to increase scrutiny of underperforming professors.

DeSantis recently asked public university administrators to provide a detailed account of expenditures related to DEI initiatives as members of the Florida legislature consider budget proposals.

On Tuesday, he revealed that his office would work to “eliminate all DEI and CRT bureaucracies in the state of Florida” such that the programs “wither on the vine.”

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Downtown San Diego Violence Makes Residents Uneasy About Their Surroundings

SAN DIEGO — After a recent string of attacks reported in Downtown San Diego, residents and businesses are on guard as law enforcement stress caution, alertness and mindfulness of one’s surroundings.

Sunday afternoon, three attacks occurred downtown within a 30-minute timespan, all within walking distance.

The third ended in an arrest at Ralph’s grocery store on G street.

The attack follows an uptick in violence throughout the month of January, leaving residents on edge.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

FBI Searched Biden’s Private Office Just Before Midterms, Kept it Quiet

FBI agents conducted a search of the Democrat president’s private office at the Penn Biden Center just before the 2022 midterm elections, but kept the operation quiet, according to reports.

On November 2, classified documents connected were first found in Biden’s private office, less than a week before Election Day.

The documents were at the Penn Biden Center, a think tank in Washington, D.C.

However, the White House, Biden’s lawyers, and Biden’s Department of Justice kept the FBI’s role in the discovery hidden from the public.

CBS News is now reporting that the FBI was at the building searching the office.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

FDA Sued for Withholding Safety Data on COVID Shots

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is being sued in federal court for withholding data on the safety analysis of Covid shots.

The new lawsuit was filed in a Washington D.C. federal court by the nonprofit Children’s Health Defense (CHD).

CHD contends that the FDA’s actions violate federal law.

“Numerous scientists, physicians, public health experts, and other concerned individuals have questioned the safety of COVID-19 injections, and many thousands of post-injection adverse events have been reported to the federal government,” the lawsuit argues.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Firearms Channels Embrace Rumble as YouTube Starts Censoring Videos Showing Suppressors Being Attached to Guns

Over the last few weeks, YouTube has censored some of the biggest firearms channels on the platform for simply uploading videos that show them attaching suppressors to their guns. In response, many of these channels have embraced free speech video sharing platform Rumble and used it to post uncensored versions of their content.

The recent wave of YouTube censorship appears to be related to a change in the way YouTube is interpreting its Firearms policy. This policy prohibits content that provides instructions on manufacturing “homemade silencers/suppressors” but there are no explicit restrictions on attaching suppressors to firearms.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

House Ignores White House Objections, Votes to End COVID Health Emergency

The Pandemic is Over Act, which would end the public health emergency, passed 220-210 in a vote that saw every Republican vote for it and every Democrat vote against it. But the Freedom for Health Care Workers Act, which would end the vaccination requirement for federal health care workers, passed 227-203 with help from seven Democrats.

Those Democrat votes came even though Democrat leaders on the House floor argued against both bills. Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said he opposes the Pandemic is Over Act because it would “abruptly and irresponsibly end the COVID-19 public health emergency virtually overnight,” and Democrats on the floor similarly argued against the bill to end the vaccine requirement.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Illinois Loses Appeal Over Gun Control Law, Leaving Restraining Order in Effect

The state of Illinois lost an appeal on Tuesday after a lower court judge issued a restraining order on a newly enacted ban on some semiautomatic rifles as well as high-capacity magazines.

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed the gun control law on Jan. 10, which bans the sale and distribution of assault weapons, high capacity magazines, and switches, which went into effect immediately after he approved it.

Effingham County Judge Joshua Morrison issued a temporary restraining order against the law on Jan. 24, preventing it from being enforced.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Kari Lake May Face Felony Charges After Criminal Referral From Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes issued a criminal referral against Kari Lake to Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes asking the AG to investigate Lake for potential violations of state law after Lake posted voter signatures online.

Lake lost Arizona’s gubernatorial race to Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs by over 17,000 votes. She filed a lawsuit protesting the election but it was dismissed.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Kids Dropped Off Near Scene of Lakeland Mass Shooting Moments Before it Happened, Parents Say

LAKELAND, Fla. (WFLA) — Lakeland residents are in shock and calling for an end to violence after 11 people were injured in a shooting in broad daylight Monday.

Authorities said a dark-colored Nissan four-door pulled up near the intersection of Iowa Avenue North and Plum Street and at least two gunmen fired from both sides of the car in what appeared to be a targeted drive-by shooting. Eleven men between the ages of 20 and 35 years old were injured, two of them critically.

Residents say a school bus had dropped off children near the intersection just moments before the shooting.

“There were kids actually who had to get down in the parking lot,” said Tina Smith.

The shooting happened just feet away from Smith’s home and she was able to provide police with security camera video. The video shows her daughter arrive home from school less than a minute before the barrage of bullets rang out.

“I heard what I thought was a roll of firecrackers and when I didn’t see the smoke I knew it wasn’t good, and then you hear people saying I’m hit, I’m hit, and running in. All I could do is have them get in the house, get on the ground and call for help,” said Smith. “Thank god not one child was shot. It made me cry. I just burst into tears. It was just a matter of seconds where things could have gone way worse than what they were.”

           — Hat tip: DV [Return to headlines]
 

Matt Gaetz Confirms AOC and ‘Populists on the Left’ Backed His New House Rules

Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz has confirmed that radical Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and other Democrats he describes as “populists on the Left” backed his new House rules.

Speaking during a new interview on MSNBC, Gaetz revealed that AOC supported the House rules package he fought for.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Military Veterans Sue Biden Administration Over ATF Regulation of Stabilizing Braces

A group of military veterans are suing the Biden administration over a rule from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) that would reclassify many pistols with stabilizing braces as “short-barreled rifles.”

The ATF rule would subject such weapons to regulations under the National Firearms Act, which in turn would require owners of such firearms to secure federal licenses, according to Fox News.

The suit contends that the rule is both a violation of the Second Amendment and also constitutes executive overreach as the rule lacks congressional authorization.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL), which filed the suit on behalf of a group of veterans, asserts that the stabilizing braces were invented to aid disabled veterans in firing pistols safely.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

MTG Calls for Investigation Into Civil Rights Abuses Experienced by Jan 6 Defendants

In a Tuesday House Oversight Committee meeting Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene urged the committee to investigate civil rights abuses experienced by Trump supporters who were arrested in the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot, as well as review the shooting of Ashli Babbitt.

“There’s a woman in this room whose daughter was murdered on January 6, Ashli Babbitt, and … there’s never been a trial. As a matter of fact, no one has cared about the person that shot and killed her, and no one in this Congress has really addressed that issue, January 6 committee didn’t address it,” Greene said.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Pfizer Rakes in Biggest Profits in Company’s History Thanks to Billions From COVID Vaccine Sales

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has just recorded the highest revenue in the company’s history thanks to the billions of dollars in profit it’s raking in from COVID-19 vaccines.

Covid products account for a large chunk of the vaccine maker’s sales and secured Pfizer’s record revenues for 2022.

The record profits are being reported as the company faces backlash for claiming to “mutate” viruses to sell more vaccines, as Slay News reported.

A growing number of doctors are also turning away from Pfizer’s boosters.

According to the earnings release by Pfizer on January 31, full-year revenues for 2022 came in at $100.3 billion, which is an “all-time high” for the multinational corporation.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Record 285,000 Illinois Residents Saw Power Shut-Offs Due to Non-Payment in 2022

A new report compiled by the Center for Biological Diversity has revealed that the number of households having their electricity disconnected by power companies as a result of not being able to pay soared between 2021 and 2022.

Leading the way among states who report such data is Illinois, whose main electricity providers shut down power for nearly 300,000 households between January and October 2022, a massive increase over the previous year.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

UCSF Chair of Medicine Announces Plan for Large Gatherings: ‘Wear a Mask … Likely Forever’

The chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) has announced his plans for attending large gatherings involve wearing “a mask … likely forever”

Bob Wachter, 65, raised his fears in a lengthy post on Twitter, despite admitting that he hasn’t had Covid and is “fully vaxxed & had bivalent in Sept.”

In his Twitter bio, Watcher asserts that his career is “What happens when a poli sci major becomes an academic physician.”

While he doesn’t mention his political bias in his bio, his predilections seem clear enough due to the leftists he retweets.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Washington DC Householder Charged With Shooting Boy, 13

A Washington DC householder has been charged with second-degree murder in the shooting of a 13-year-old child who he suspected of breaking into cars.

Jason Michael Lewis, 41, turned himself in to Washington police on Tuesday. He is accused of shooting the teenager at around 04:00 on 7 January.

According to arrest documents, as he was being shot, Karon Blake shouted, “I am sorry, please don’t” and “I’m a kid, I’m a kid.”

Mr Lewis is black, as was the teenager.

He is an employee with the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation.

The Washington Post reports that he has been placed on leave from his $75,000 (£60,000) per year job.

           — Hat tip: LL [Return to headlines]
 

Whoopi Goldberg is an Idiot

Whoopi Goldberg somehow managed to make the murder of a black man by 5 black police officers all about white people.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Wisconsin Activists Sue to Keep Bail Crackdown, Welfare Work Requirements Off Primary Ballot

A lawsuit filed Tuesday by Wisconsin criminal justice advocacy groups seeks to block two Republican-sponsored measures from appearing on the April ballot, arguing that they were not submitted on time to the correct elections officials.

One question is a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow judges to consider more factors when setting bail for violent offenders. The other is an advisory referendum that asks voters if they believe that able-bodied, childless welfare recipients should be required to look for work.

The Legislature passed the measures on Jan. 19. State law requires them to be “filed with the official or agency responsible for preparing the ballots” at least 70 days before the election. That made the deadline for submitting these questions Jan. 25.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

‘Woke’ Professor: U.S Taxpayers Owe $14 Trillion in Reparations

A “woke” university professor has claimed that American taxpayers owe $14 trillion in slavery reparations.

William Darity, a public policy professor at Duke University, cites the U.S. government’s Covid spending as evidence that tax dollars can be spent in such a way.

Darity, appeared in a sponsored segment on CNBC, along with author Kirsten Mullen, to lay out the case.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

BC Decriminalizes Hard Drugs Amid Fentanyl Crisis

On Tuesday, following the granting of a three-year exemption from Health Canada, British Columbia became the first province in Canada to decriminalize hard drugs, with the government arguing that “substance use is a public health matter, not a criminal justice issue.”

Many have argued that it will only result in more drugs on the street and, inevitably, more dead British Columbians, while some have praised the move as a step in the right direction.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Calgary Pandemic Quarantine Facility Cost $6 Million to House 15 People

The Liberal government paid more than $6 million to quarantine 15 individuals in 2022, according to government documents released on Monday.

The order paper questions document released by Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner shows that the federal government spent $6.7 million on a single quarantine facility in Calgary last year.

“The response that I just received a few hours ago was legitimately flabbergasting,” wrote Rempel on a Substack page.

The fees broke down to roughly $450,000 per quarantined individual.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Energy Companies Top Alberta Employer List Amid “Strong Economic Growth”

Alberta energy companies were among the top-rated employers in the province as it experienced a period of strong economic growth and a growing demand for workers.

Mediacorp Canada Inc. publishes an annual list of “Alberta’s Top 75 Employers” in tandem with a nationwide ranking.

Oil and energy companies, including Imperial Oil Limited, Enbridge Inc, Shell Canada Limited, Gibson Energy Inc. and Keyra Corp. featured as this year’s top employers for offering flexibility and superior incentives for their workers.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Exclusive: Feds Knew Fertilizer Targets Would Harm Canadian Farm Crop Production

This is part 2 of the Fertilizer Files, a 3-part series on what internal government documents show about the Trudeau Liberals’ push to reduce fertilizer emissions. Read part 1 here.

The federal government was aware that fertilizer emission targets introduced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2020 would unfairly target western Canada by harming farm yields, but went ahead with the policy anyway.

Considering the fact that western provinces account for over 90% of Canada’s canola, spring wheat and barley crops, any slight reduction could upend exports and food supply at a national level.

Documents acquired by True North through an access to information request show how a web of unachievable expectations are being placed upon the backs of Albertan and Prairie farmers

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Federal Theatre Backs Out of Performance for Exclusively Black Audience

After widespread public outrage, the National Arts Centre (NAC) is backing out of a controversial plan to have an evening of theatre reserved exclusively for an “all-black” audience.

Critics accused the Ottawa theatre of discriminating based on race, which contradicts federal and provincial human rights legislation.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Over Three Million Canadians on Healthcare Waiting List

Over three million Canadians are stuck on a waiting list for surgery, a diagnostic scan, or to see a specialist, with some estimates pushing the total close to four million, according to new data from a Canadian think-tank.

A SecondStreet.org study has found that nearly 3.2 million people are on these waitlists across the provincial and territorial healthcare systems.

However, SecondStreet.org says that the data they used — largely received through freedom of information requests — is incomplete, as many jurisdictions were unable to calculate the figure. Prince Edward Island did not provide the think-tank with any data.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Top Canadian Universities Conducted Research With Chinese Military Scientists

At least 50 Canadian universities have conducted research projects connected to China’s military according to a new report.

The Globe and Mail reported on Monday that a study by US company Strider Technologies Inc. discovered that some of the country’s top post-secondary institutions could be helping further arm China with cutting edge military tech.

The University of Toronto, the University of British Columbia, McGill University and the University of Waterloo all took part in research with Chinese scientists linked to the People’s Liberation Army. Nearly all of Canada’s top 10 schools were implicated in Strider’s findings.

In the last half decade, collaborations have occurred with military scientists working for the National University of Defence Technology (NUDT) to advance projects related to missile guidance, drones and surveillance technology.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Amid Plague of Gang Shootings and Bombings, Desire to Own Firearm for Self-Defence is Rising in Sweden

Around 20 per cent of Swedes have stated that they would feel safer in their country if they had the right to self-defence with a firearm, as gang violence and fatal shootings plague the country.

A survey by the firm Novus of 1,043 Swedes between the ages of 18 and 64, found that 20 per cent believed that they would feel safer if they had access to firearms for self-defence purposes. While the amount may seem low by American standards, it resembles a shift in opinion for the historically safe and settled Scandinavian nation.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

European ‘Christian State’ Faces Criticism for Banning Woke Lessons, Immigration Laws: ‘Will of the People’

UNITED NATIONS, New York — Hungary continues to chart a path that officials believe best represents the “will of the people,” even as it puts the national government at odds with a liberal European Union.

“We have been a Christian state for more than 1,000 years since our first saint, King Stephen, has offered the country to the hands of Mary the Virgin, and we take it seriously,” Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjartó told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview during his visit to the United Nations in New York.

“We stick to our Christian heritage. We stick to our Christian roots,” Szijjartó continued. “We implement a Christian Democratic political strategy.”

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Finland Could Join NATO But Sweden Can’t, Claims Erdogan

Turkey may soon give the green light for Finland to join NATO but will continue to oppose Swedish membership of the alliance, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday.

During a televised meeting with young voters, the Turkish president suggested for the first time his country may come to different conclusions on the applications from the two Scandinavian countries to join the defense alliance.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

French Demonstrators Pour Into the Streets in Latest Clash With Government Over Raise in Retirement Age

From tiny islands to major cities, demonstrators poured into France’s streets Tuesday in the latest clash of wills with the government over its plans to push back the retirement age. Labor unions aimed to mobilize more than 1 million demonstrators in what one veteran left-wing leader described as a “citizens’ insurrection.”

The nationwide strikes and protests were a crucial test both for President Emmanuel Macron’s government and its opponents. The government says it is determined to push through Macron’s election pledge to reform France’s pension system. Labor unions and left-wing legislators fighting in parliament against Macron’s plans are counting on protesters to turn out massively to strengthen their efforts to kill the bill that that would raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.

Veteran left-wing leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon predicted “a historic day” of protests and defeat for Macron, as large crowds of protesters marched in cities and towns outside Paris — ahead of a major demonstration planned later Tuesday through the French capital.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

German Voters Alarmed by Tank Deliveries to Warring Nation

The delivery of Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine, which has now been decided by the Scholz administration, is extremely controversial. According to current surveys, the majority of Germans think the decision is wrong.

The resentment is particularly great in Central Germany. According to an MDR online survey, around three quarters of the population there have rejected it. More than 28 000 people took part in the survey. According to the broadcaster, thousands of comments have reached them and “give a deep insight into the mood of the people behind the numbers”.

The MDR pointed out that the results of the survey were “not representative according to strictly demoscopic standards”, but it was a “weighted survey” that realistically reflected the mood. According to the broadcaster, 28 198 people from Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia took part in the survey which was launched on Monday evening.

Overall, around three quarters of the participants considered the federal government’s tank decision to be dead wrong. The vast majority of them — 80 percent — fear that Germany will become a war party, according to the MDR.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Greenpeace Protesters Board Shell Platform Bound for Shetland

Greenpeace protesters have boarded a Shell floating oil platform which is being transported over 12,000 nautical miles to the Shetland Islands with signs demanding that the fossil fuel giant “Stop drilling — start paying”.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Hungary Says Sweden Should ‘Act Differently’ If it Wants to Join NATO

Sweden’s government should “act differently” if it wants to clinch Turkish support for its bid to join NATO, Hungary’s foreign minister said Tuesday, adding that a recent Quran-burning protest outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm was “unacceptable.”

Peter Szijjarto made the remark at a news conference following talks with his Turkish counterpart in Hungary’s capital Budapest. Both diplomats addressed the 21 January anti-Turkish protest that increased tensions between Ankara and Stockholm as Sweden seeks Turkey’s approval to join the NATO military alliance.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Far-Left Anarchists Attack Police in Milan and Rome in Revenge for Hunger Striking Radical

Far-left anarchist extremists are accused of setting a police vehicle on fire in Milan and attacking officers in Rome in revenge for a radical extremist currently engaged in a hunger strike.

On Saturday evening, around a hundred demonstrators gathered in Rome at the Piazza Trilussa in the Trastevere area to protest in solidarity with far-left anarchist extremist Alfredo Cospito who has been engaged in a hunger strike for over a hundred days against the strict Italian prison regime known in Italy as the 41-bis.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Most Poles Would Not Want to See Donald Tusk as the Prime Minister Again

Less than one in three Poles believe life would be better with opposition leader Donald Tusk as the head of the government, according to new polling.

In a United Surveys poll conducted for the Wirtualna Polska news portal, just 32.4 percent of respondents believe a Tusk government would contribute to their life being better, while 47.6 percent believe life would become worse with him at the helm — 18.4 think life would become “somewhat worse,” while 29.2 percent think it would be “much worse.”

Unsurprisingly, voters of the governing Law and Justice (PiS) party are the most vociferous against Tusk, with 99 percent thinking they will be worse off.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Orban: ‘The Current Political System in Europe Will Collapse’

In an interview with the Austrian daily eXXpress, Viktor Orban, Hungary’s Prime Minister said he was convinced that the current political system in Europe would collapse within this decade.

“The gap is growing, the alienation between Hungary and the EU is progressing,” said the Hungarian leader. Viktor Orban (59) held an exclusive conversation with several journalists at the congress of the Mathias Corvinus Collegium — including eXXpress editor-in-chief Richard Schmitt — about the current European situation.

The journalists who attended the Mathias Corvinus Collegium Congress held a two-and-a-half-hour conversation with Hungary’s Prime Minister.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Poles Are Becoming Increasingly Susceptible to Russian Propaganda

An increasing number of Poles believe that Ukrainian refugees are in fact economic migrants and that Poland should not be helping Ukraine because of past history, new polling revealed.

In September 2022 and January 2023, the Warsaw Enterprise Institute (WEI) commissioned polls to examine people’s responses to eight separate statements considered to be in line with the Kremlin’s propaganda on the war. All of them are meant to reduce support for Ukraine abroad and to create tensions in countries hosting Ukrainian refugees.

[Comment: Perhaps there are other reasons why support for war has declined?]

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Shock Video: Three Wounded in Another Stabbing Rampage at Brussels Train Station

Three people were injured this week when a suspect already known to authorities embarked on the latest stabbing rampage at a train station in Western Europe, according to reports.

The horrifying incident unfolded at around 6 p.m. on Monday evening in Brussels, the capital of Belgium.

A man began attacking people aboard a subway train before rushing out and stabbing more victims inside Schuman metro station, located “a few dozen meters from the headquarters of the European Commission and the European Council,” Le Progres reports.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Spanish Court Determines Church Murder Attack Was Terrorism

A Spanish court has announced that last week’s murder and attempted murder at two churches in Algeciras was likely a jihadist terrorist attack and has remanded the main suspect in custody.

Judge of the Spanish National Court Joaquin Gadea remanded Moroccan Yasin Kanjaa into custody under charges of murder and attempted murder for terrorist purposes following statements made by the suspect after this arrest following last Wednesday’s deadly attack.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden PM Says ‘Foreign Actors’ Exploiting Protests

STOCKHOLM — Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on Tuesday denounced activists who burned the Quran and hanged an effigy of Turkey’s president in Stockholm as “useful idiots” for foreign powers who want to inflict harm on the Scandinavian country as it seeks to join NATO.

“We have seen how foreign actors, even state actors, have used these manifestations to inflame the situation in a way that is directly harmful to Swedish security,” Kristersson told reporters in Stockholm, without naming any countries.

The prime minister gathered leaders of Sweden’s parliamentary parties to discuss the national security situation amid rising tensions with Turkey and a wave of anti-Swedish protests in other Muslim countries.

The protests came in reaction to a series of small demonstrations this month in Stockholm targeting Turkey and its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In one protest, an effigy of Erdogan was hanged on a lamp post outside Stockholm’s City Hall. In another, a far-right activist burned a Quran outside the Turkish Embassy.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Switzerland Weighs Break With Centuries-Old Policy of Neutrality

Via Responsible Statecraft

A group of Swiss lawmakers has moved forward a proposal to allow countries to give Swiss-made weapons to Ukraine, in a move that would soften Switzerland’s centuries-old policy of neutrality toward foreign conflicts.

“The majority of the committee believes Switzerland must offer its contribution to European security, which requires more substantial aid to Ukraine,” the Swiss parliamentary security committee said in a statement.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Turkey is an Ally for Energy, Immigration, and Supports a Peace Deal in Ukraine, Hungarian Government Says Following Delegation Visit

Turkey plays an important role in tackling illegal immigration, remains a vocal proponent for peace at the earliest opportunity in Ukraine, and is a necessary ally for Hungary’s energy security, key members of the Hungarian government said on Tuesday following a meeting with Turkish delegates in Budapest.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban first met with Turkey’s Defense Minister Mevlüt Çavusoglu at the Carmelite Monastery where the pair discussed the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, bilateral relations between the two nations, and the wider issue of mass immigration affecting the region.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

UK Government Used an Army Unit to Spy on Citizens So it Knew “How Scared People Were” During COVID

The report, “Ministry of Truth: The Secretive Government Units Spying On Your Speech” — an extensive, over 100-page long deep dive into the subject matter, among other things analyzed how the UK government used the country’s military to glean “how scared people were” during Covid.

Read the report here.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

UK Government Pressured News Outlets That Published Articles That Could “Affect Compliance” With COVID Measures

An investigation into shadowy methods employed by the UK government during the pandemic, that resulted in a report by rights group Big Brother Watch titled, “Ministry of Truth: The Secretive Government Units Spying On Your Speech,” deals with how various units were used to record political dissent on social, but also traditional media.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Brexiteers Have Every Right to Feel Betrayed by Conservatives Three Years on: Farage

Three years to the day after the United Kingdom mostly left the European Union, Britons who voted to leave are right to feel betrayed by the mismanagement of the Conservative Party which has pointedly refused to deliver on the promise and potential of Brexit.

Thousands of Brexiteers gathered in Parliament Square on January 31st 2020 for an unofficial — the British government had declined to actually hold a celebratory event — welcoming of the end of the United Kingdom’s time as a member of the European Union.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Ukraine Plans to Progress to Full EU Membership Within Two Years

The Ukrainian government has revealed it plans to be a full European Union member-state within two years ahead of a historic Ukraine-EU summit in Kyiv.

“We have a very ambitious plan to join the European Union within the next two years,” revealed Denys Shmyhal, the Prime Minister of Ukraine, in comments to POLITICO.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

War in Ukraine to Cost German Economy €175 Billion This Year

The Russian war against Ukraine is likely to cost the German economy around €175 billion this year, according to calculations published by the Institute of the German Economy (IW) in Cologne on Monday. The estimate represents a loss of prosperity of around €2,000 per person.

For the calculation, according to IW, the current situation was compared with a scenario in which there is no war and therefore no high energy prices or supply bottlenecks. This resulted in a price-adjusted loss of about 4.5 percent of Germany’s gross domestic product (GDP).

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

WSJ: Poland Has Covert Plant Repairing Ukrainian Weaponry

In a factory surrounded by run-down buildings, hundreds of Polish technicians are working around the clock to repair Ukraine’s artillery and armory so that they can be returned to the front. The air inside the plant, which is the size of a soccer field, is thick with metallic and oily scents. One of the main focuses of staff inside the plant is repairing the Krab howitzers damaged in the war.

The painstaking repair job can take up to two months. Details of the plant’s whereabouts cannot be made public, but the mechanics inside are in constant contact with technicians in Ukraine through codified applications, teaching their counterparts how to repair all kinds of weapons, from tanks to missiles.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Who Was Really Behind the Jerusalem Terror Attack

by Daniel Greenfield

On Thursday, Jan 26, the Palestinian Authority announced that it was suspending “security coordination” after Israel broke up a Jenin terror cell that had been planning a major attack.

On Friday, Jan 27, an Islamic terrorist opened fire outside a Jerusalem synagogue killing 7 Israelis, including Asher Natan, a 14-year-old boy, Eli and Natali Mizrahi, a married couple who rushed out to help the victims, and Shaul Hai, a 68-year-old synagogue sexton.

The shooter, despite being branded a “lone wolf” with no previous connection to terrorism, was described as having advanced shooting skills. And the death rate testifies to that. It seems highly likely that he was selected and secretly prepped to carry out this attack.

On Saturday, Jan 28, a second shooting in Jerusalem injured two other Israelis. Another armed terrorist was taken out by the town’s security team in Kedumim. That may not be the last of it.

There is nothing coincidental about the timing of this surge of violence: the deadliest in years…

           — Hat tip: Daniel Greenfield [Return to headlines]
 

Iranian Couple Sentenced to 21 Years for Dancing in Support of Protests

An Iranian court has sentenced two bloggers to ten and a half years in prison each for dancing in the streets in support of the nationwide protests which have swept the country since September.

The couple — Amir Mohammad Ahmadi, 22 and Astiyazh Haqiqi, 21 — shared a video of themselves dancing Azadi Square in Iran’s capital Tehran to show support for the protests after the death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in custody of the Iranian morality police.

They were arrested on November 10 when plainclothes agents beat and transferred them to ward 209 of the Ministry of Intelligence in the notorious Evin prison in Tehran.

Besides the jail term, a two-year ban to use social media, and a two-year ban on leaving Iran has also been imposed on the couple. They have been charged with “encouraging corruption and public prostitution”.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Furious Kyiv Condemns President of NATO-Member Croatia for Declaring Crimea Will Never be Part of Ukraine and That Aiding Zelensky is ‘Mad’

Zoran Milanovic’s remark detailed his objection to Zagreb providing military aid to Kyiv. Ukraine’s foreign ministry criticised the comment on Tuesday.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Russia-Ukraine War: Western Nations Sending Tanks ‘Prolongs the War’, Croatia’s President Says

Croatian President Zoran Milanovic disapproves of Western countries sending Ukraine military tanks, explaining that it will extend the war with Russia. | Fox News

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Russia Presses Ahead With Donetsk Campaign; Ukraine Wants Fighter Jets

KYIV (Reuters) — Russian forces are making incremental gains in their push to take territory in Ukraine’s eastern province of Donetsk, focusing on the town of Bakhmut north of the regional capital.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s government is lobbying hard for some of its neighbours and Western allies to supply fighter jets that it can use to repulse Russian advances. It took months of Ukraine’s appeals before Western countries last week pledged modern battle tanks, and Kyiv wants jets sooner rather than later.

In Paris after meeting Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov, French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu said “there was no taboo” about supplying Kyiv with fighter planes.

The United States and Britain have thus far rejected the idea but repeated their willingness to continue military support to Ukraine, which Russian forces invaded in February 2022 in what Moscow called a “special military operation” to protect Russian security and Russian speakers. The invasion has killed thousands of civilians, uprooted millions and reduced cities to rubble.

           — Hat tip: Dean [Return to headlines]
 

Ukraine War: Moscow Creeps Towards Bakhmut, Russian ‘Propaganda Institutions’, Nuclear Treaty Woes

Moscow creeps towards Bakhmut amid gritty fighting

Russia claimed on Tuesday it had captured the village of Blagodatne, just north of Bakhmout in eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine and Russia have waged a vicious battle for several weeks to control the city, which Moscow frames as key to seizing the prized Donbas region.

In its daily briefing, the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed “Blagodatne had been liberated” after an offensive by “volunteer assault units”, who were supported by planes and artillery.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Australian State of New South Wales to Get Digital ID Within Weeks

The customer service and digital government minister in the Australian state of New South Wales, Victor Dominello, said that the state will have a functional digital ID pilot in the next few weeks and before the state election in March. The digital ID scheme will be tested through online sales of alcohol.

In a LinkedIn post featuring an image of him holding a red wine bottle, Dominello said “details of a digital ID pilot — where you can verify that you are over the age of 18 without having to provide primary documents” would be released in the next few weeks.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Dan Andrews is Called Out for Accepting Prime Australian Open Seats From Emirates: ‘Even for Him This Was World-Record Hypocrisy’

Dan Andrews was called a ‘world-class’ hypocrite by radio host Neil Mitchell for accepting Australian Open freebies from Emirates airline, owned by the rulers of Dubai rulers where gays can be executed.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Exclusive: Horror in Alice Springs as a Teen Boy is Attacked With an Axe in Broad Daylight as Lawless Town is Rocked by a New Wave of Violence: ‘This Town Has Become a Nightmare’

More violence in lawless Alice Springs has emerged overnight as a teenager was set upon by three youths armed with an axe as he took an afternoon stroll to a popular pizza shop.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Nurse Who Filmed Troubling Scenes of Alice Springs Hotel Under Siege Reveals Her Disturbing Theory About Why Kids Are on the Streets — and Recounts the Most Terrifying Night of Her Life

Rachel Hale was staying at the Diplomat Hotel in Alice Springs and feared for her life as dozens of youths caused chaos downstairs — but she doesn’t believe alcohol is the main problem.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Tragic New Details Emerge About How Hero Husband Saved His Wife From an Eastern Brown Snake While They Were Watching TV — Before it Bit and Killed Him

A man in his 60s was killed by one of Australia’s most deadly snakes while rescuing his wife. Dad-of-two Vincent Price jumped to action Saturday after his wife spotted the snake while watching TV.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Video: Bill Gates Again Acts Weird When Asked Directly About Relationship With Jeffrey Epstein

Bill Gates was once again asked directly by a reporter about his history with now deceased elite pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, and once again Gates reacted oddly.

In an interview with ABC Australia, the reporter Sarah Ferguson went there, asking Gates if he has regrets consistently meeting with Epstein in the past “against [his wife] Melinda’s advice and wishes.”

“You’re going way back in time, but yeah, I will say it for the over 100th time, yeah, I shouldn’t have had dinners with him,” Gates responded with an odd smile.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Wild Brawl Breaks Out in a Shopping Centre Food Court Leaving a Woman, 52, With a Bleeding Lip as the Cause of the Chaos is Revealed

Incredible footage shows a group of women throwing punches at each other outside St George’s Bank in the Bankstown Central Shopping Centre in western Sydney.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Biden Avoids Mentioning NYC Migrant Protest During City Visit, Touts Big Spending at Rail Yard

President Joe Biden traveled to New York City on Tuesday to tout his “mega” infrastructure spending, but did not mention the protests taking place on the city streets among illegal migrants who are pushing back on their removal from a Manhattan hotel.

Fox News Digital received no response from Biden ahead of his NYC speech, after he was asked about the migrants who are sleeping outside the Watson Hotel and complaining about conditions at the Brooklyn Terminal Center. Biden also did not address the ongoing situation during his speech Tuesday touting the major infrastructure law.

“This law is the most significant investment in rail… since we created Amtrak,” Biden said at the West Side Rail Yard in New York City Tuesday, promoting a project made possible by the infrastructure measure.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

EU Ministers Discuss How to Better Tackle Migration, Vow to Speed Up Deportations

EU interior ministers met in Stockholm last Thursday to discuss ways to increase the number of returns of irregular migrants to their countries of origin, including by further restricting the issuance of visas to nationals of “non-cooperative” countries.

“It is clear that in an area without internal borders, we need a Europe-wide policy to deal with asylum and migration issues,” said Belgium’s State Secretary for Asylum and Migration Nicole de Moor (CD&V) before the meeting.

The relevant ministers from national governments met for the first day of informal ministerial talks under the new Swedish EU presidency, which focused on asylum, migration, and home affairs.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Greg Abbott Announces Texas’ First Border Czar Amid Surge of Illegal Migrant Crossings

Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday announced the state’s first-ever border czar to address the influx of migrants coming through the U.S.-Mexico border.

Abbott tapped veteran Border Patrol agent Mike Banks to serve as “special adviser on border matters to the governor,” in response to the Biden administration’s handling of the border crisis.

“For nearly two years, the state of Texas has taken unprecedented, historic action under Operation Lone Star in response to the Biden administration’s refusal to secure the border,” Abbott said at a news conference on a border wall construction site in San Benito, Texas. “To continue doing what no other state in the history of our country has done to secure the border, I hired Mike Banks as the state of Texas’ first-ever border czar.”

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Migrants Remain Camped in NYC Street After Nearly 48 Hours to Protest Eviction From Free Stay at Luxury Hotel

A group of illegal immigrants remain in protest outside the Watson Hotel in New York City, sleeping in the streets for nearly two days to push back against relocation from their taxpayer-funded hotel in Manhattan to a migrant crisis center in Brooklyn.

After entering into the U.S. through the southern border, tens of thousands of migrants were sent to New York City where they were given free housing at luxury hotels, while Mayor Eric Adams prepared a facility to control the influx of migrants pouring into the city.

The city prepared to move migrants, specifically single adult men, from the Watson Hotel in New York City to the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal facility, but faced pushback on Sunday night from the individuals who refused to relocate.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

NYC Hotel Worker Calls Out City as Migrants ‘Destroy’ Rooms, ‘Disrespect’ Employees: ‘No Accountability’

One New York City hotel employee is sounding the alarm on the “total chaos” migrant guests are causing as asylum-seekers refuse to leave free rooms and relocate to a migrant shelter.

Migrants initially placed at the Watson Hotel in Midtown Manhattan are camping outside after being evicted on Monday. The migrants, who are single men, are protesting accommodations at a new migrant relief center in Brooklyn.

Felipe Rodriguez, an employee at nearby Row NYC, detailed how his once-trendy hotel has spiraled into a migrant “free-for-all” riddled with drugs, sex and violence during “Fox & Friends” on Tuesday.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Over 120,000 Migrants Pass Through Serbia in 2022

Serbia registered more than 120,000 migrants last year in asylum centers across the country, according to figures released on Monday.

A total of 124,127 migrants passed through centers run by the country’s Refugee and Migration Commissariat, showed the latest report by the agency.

“According to the latest statistical data, while some migrants stay longer, others stay shorter, and the average stay was 16 days. In 2021, the average length of stay was 30 days, and in 2020, it was 36 days,” said the statement.

There are 3,059 people in 17 centers at present, while only 10 people were granted asylum in 2022 with another 40 receiving other forms of protection.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Shock: 12-Year-Old Afghan Suspected of Raping Severely Disabled Girl at Care Home in France

Authorities are investigating an alleged rape committed by a 12-year-old Afghan migrant against a young girl with ‘severe mental retardation’ at a care home in France this month, according to reports.

The horrifying incident unfolded on January 13 in Etampes, a commune in the suburbs of Paris.

Police were alerted by staff at a facility for vulnerable children about a sex attack that had taken place during the overnight hours.

A 15-year-old girl living at the home was raped in the room of an Afghan preteen who was temporarily placed there under a judge’s order.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

‘This is Just the Beginning’ — Austria’s Anti-Immigration FPÖ Scores Shock Election Result

The anti-immigration Freedom of Austria (FPÖ) party has nearly doubled its election share in state elections in Lower Austria on Sunday, with the result serving as a litmus test for the rest of the country.

FPÖ, which is the only major party against sanctions on Russia and Covid-19 lockdowns, secured 24.2 percent of the vote, a 9-point increase. The news comes as recent polling shows FPÖ is the most popular party in the entire country.

At the same time, the election result in Austria’s largest state served as a major blow to the moderate conservatives of Austria’s People’s Party (ÖVP), which currently rules the country in a coalition with Austria’s Green party. The party has been hit with corruption investigations, a migrant crisis, and a sharp economic downturn.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Failed Asylum Seeker Murdered Pensioner Who Took Him in

A failed Iranian asylum seeker will be sentenced on Wednesday after brutally murdering a frail 87-year-old woman who took him into her home in the English county of North Yorkshire.

Pensioner Brenda Blainey was found dead in her home in the village of Thornton-le-Dale on Jan. 5 last year.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Canadian Parents Protest After Trans-Identified Male Allegedly Exposed Genitals to Young Girls in Pool Change Room

There were protests Saturday outside City Hall in Saskatoon after a trans-identified male allegedly walked around naked in the female changing room at a local pool while swimming lessons for young children were taking place.

The incident that allegedly occurred at the Shaw Centre first came to light when a concerned parent posted about the individual in a Facebook group. “A male that identifies as female was in the female change room and walking around completely naked. No towel, no underwear,” said the parent.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Christian ‘Prayer Warriors’ Raise Alarm Over Boston’s SatanCon 2023: ‘Using the Supernatural’

A group of Christians is pushing back against SatanCon 2023, an event scheduled to take place in downtown Boston that is being touted by The Satanic Temple as the “largest satanic gathering in history.”

Detractors say the temple is “using the supernatural” to manipulate people, though it bills itself as a nontheistic group that does not believe in the supernatural.

“We’ve been tracking these folks for a couple years now,” Dave Kubal, CEO of Intercessors for America, told Fox News Digital. His organization of “half a million prayer warriors” takes a three-pronged approach to resisting and exposing The Satanic Temple with “news, prayer and action.”

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Corporate Wokeness: Big Tech, Major Banks Rated ‘High Risk’ of Canceling People, Orgs for Ideological Reasons

Several of the country’s largest and most influential corporations pose a “high risk” of canceling a contract or client or of boycotting, divesting or denying services for purely ideological reasons, according to a new report.

The 1792 Exchange, a nonprofit committed to protecting other nonprofits, small businesses, individuals and philanthropic organizations from “woke capitalism,” released the report to spotlight companies that are undermining free speech and free enterprise by prioritizing ideology in their business practices — often with the financial backing of unbeknownst Americans who invested to make a profit, not to pursue a political cause.

The report was also designed to highlight “reliable and respectful” vendors that are less likely to cancel a contract or deny services based on views or beliefs.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Cosmetics Brand Accused of “Erasing Women” With Bearded Lipstick Ads

Cosmetics company NYX Professional Makeup has received backlash on social media after featuring ads for a lipstick with bearded men.

The company appears to be finding out that going woke eventually equates to going broke, as respondents accused them of “erasing women” with the ads for Smooth Whip lip cream.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Florida Demands American Academy of Pediatrics Give Evidence for Their Support of Child Sex Changes

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has been ordered to provide the state of Florida with evidence explaining why it supports child sex changes and documentation showing the process the medical association went through in order to reach that stance.

The District Court ruling comes as part of the legal action against the state of Florida brought by four plaintiffs and backed by the AAP that seeks to overturn Gov. Ron DeSantis’s ban on Medicaid funding for child sex changes.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Jordan Peterson Talks Woke Schools, Assisted Suicide at Ottawa Event

Renowned Canadian author and psychologist Jordan Peterson touched on woke schools and assisted suicide during his Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life tour stop in Ottawa Monday night.

“I don’t think there is a more dire sin than corrupting children… maybe the only more egregious error is swearing to do nothing but violate your own conscience, you know, out of spite and bitterness,” the renowned personality said of the woke agenda in the classroom.

“You’re gonna have to take your blows to push back against enforced and mandatory idle worship, but that’s a lot easier battle than losing control of your own soul,” Peterson said of teachers pushing back against that agenda.

Despite attempts by activists and an Ottawa city councillor to cancel the event, it went ahead peacefully and without protest.

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Killer Transwoman Who Identifies as Baby Supplied With Pacifier by Scottish Prison

The case of double rapist ‘Isla Bryson’, formerly Adam Graham, has shone a spotlight on another trans prisoner in Scotland — a convicted killer who identifies as a baby.

The case of Sophie Eastwood, formerly Daniel Eastwood, has been highlighted by news outlets including the Daily Mail and Daily Express. The story comes as Scotland’s left-separatist Scottish National Party (SNP) government, which has been pushing pro-trans legislation, grapples with the case of Isla Bryson, a tattooed, skinheaded rapist who began dressing in pink and identifying as a woman after being apprehended, and was briefly incarcerated in a woman’s prison.

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Screaming Trans Activist Takes Bow After Trying to Shut Down Detransitioned Woman Chloe Cole

A group of trans activists tried to drown out the speeches of detransitioned young women who were speaking at a rally in Tennessee on Saturday by screaming, shouting, and banging on drums.

Chloe Cole, an 18-year-old woman who was put on puberty blockers and testosterone at age 13, had a double mastectomy at 15, and then detransitioned at 16, was the keynote speaker at the Teens Against Gender Mutilation Rally in Murfreesboro. The event, organized by Turning Point USA, was met with a crowd of angry trans activists intent on preventing the young woman from telling her story.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Trans Criminals Who Raped Women Are Women, Says Scottish Leader

Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon says transgender criminals convicted for raping women are women, despite a car crash interview in which she appeared to flip flop all over the place.

The controversy began after 31-year-old Adam Graham, who was was found guilty of raping the two women during frenzied sex attacks, was sent to Scotland’s only all female prison.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Virginia Bill Would Ban Transgender Athletes From Women’s Sports

The Virginia House of Delegates advanced a bill on Monday that would ban transgender women and girls from competing in women’s sports at any level in Virginia schools.

“The purpose of House Bill 1837 is to protect our girls and young women from being forced to compete against biological males,” Delegate Karen Greenhalgh (R-Virginia Beach) said. “Similarly gifted and trained males will always have the physical advantage over females, which is the reason we have women’s sports.”

A Virginia House of Delegates subcommittee voted along party lines to move House Bill 1387 to the full education committee. The controversial bill, patroned by Greenhalgh, would ban transgender women and girls from competing on any “interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural, or club athletic team” at any school or college in the state.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

‘Woke’ Left Implodes as CNN Signs Bill Maher: ‘That Smug Face’

The “woke” Left has imploded over the news that CNN has signed a deal with talk show host Bill Maher.

CNN has just announced that it will start airing Maher’s “Overtime” post-show segment.

However, the Left is outraged that Maher, an old-school liberal with outspoken anti-woke views, will soon be broadcast on the leftist network CNN.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

2 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 1/31/2023

  1. Three years to the day after the United Kingdom mostly left the European Union, Britons who voted to leave are right to feel betrayed by the mismanagement of the Conservative Party which has pointedly refused to deliver on the promise and potential of Brexit.
    Yes I certainly think we have a right to have expected more-however although having voted for the Conservative Government hitherto, however if a complete change in the way matters are at present does not come about I shall not be voting for them again. Who would I vote for?, time will tell whether there will another political party entering the race.

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